Road 96

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers an exceptionally smooth experience in Road 96, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary constraint at higher resolutions while the CPU provides ample headroom at 1080p. The combination ranks in the 91st percentile for this title, placing it firmly among the top tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a textbook GPU-bound curve. At 1080p with Medium settings, the system produces 258 FPS, while the same settings at 1440p yield 164 FPS, and at 4K the average drops to 87 FPS. This represents a 66% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial scaling factor that points directly at the graphics card as the limiting component. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth are being taxed heavily as pixel counts increase.

The pattern holds across all settings presets. With High settings, the system delivers 208 FPS at 1080p, 133 FPS at 1440p, and 70 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 47%. This accelerating decline is typical of a GPU reaching its rendering ceiling, particularly in an adventure title where scene complexity can vary widely. The Ultra preset shows the same trajectory: 163 FPS at 1080p, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K.

Notably, the Low preset at 1080p reaches 353 FPS, which is dramatically higher than any other configuration. This indicates that when the GPU is given minimal work, the frame rate skyrockets, confirming that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this pairing. The i5-14400F's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient to feed the RTX 4080 SUPER even at these extreme frame rates. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is a 54% reduction, while at 4K it is a 54% reduction as well, showing consistent rendering overhead across resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a Raptor Lake Refresh part built on Intel's 10 nm process, featuring 10 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its L3 cache is 20 MB shared, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel interface. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 21,645 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,055 in single-core, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs tested.

The data from Road 96 shows that the CPU is never the limiting factor in this combination. At 1080p Low, the system produces 353 FPS, which is a massive workload for any processor to feed. The fact that the i5-14400F can sustain this frame rate suggests that the game's engine is well-optimized for multi-core processors, and the CPU's 16 threads are being utilized effectively. The single-core performance, as evidenced by the 3,055 Cinebench R23 score, is also strong enough to handle the game's primary game logic thread without creating a bottleneck.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-14400F holds its own. It scores within 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-11900 and 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U in average benchmark scores, while edging out the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS by 0.2% and the Intel Core i7-12800H by 0.5%. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class. The 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a mainstream offering, but its performance in this game shows no compromise.

The PassMark multi-thread score of 25,470 and the PassMark single-thread score of 3,701 further corroborate the CPU's capability. This is not a processor that will hold back a flagship GPU like the RTX 4080 SUPER in an adventure title such as Road 96, where the rendering workload is primarily graphics-focused. The CPU's role here is to maintain consistent frame pacing, and the measured FPS with no minimum frame rate drops below 74 FPS in any tested configuration indicates that the processor is delivering stable performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured results. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, this GPU features 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units. Its boost clock is 2550 MHz, and it carries 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU is rated at 320 W TDP and uses a triple-slot cooling solution.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 86 against all GPUs is reflected in the Road 96 frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the system maintains 55 FPS, which is playable but shows the GPU's limits when pushed to maximum settings at the highest resolution. The 4K Medium setting produces 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS, indicating that the GPU can maintain a smooth experience if the settings are moderated. The 4K High setting at 70 FPS is the sweet spot for 4K gaming, offering a significant improvement over Ultra while still delivering a solid frame rate.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 34,245 in Passmark G3D and 52.22 TFLOPS in FP32 compute. Its nearest rival, the standard RTX 4080, scores within 0.1% in average benchmark scores, confirming that the SUPER variant offers only a marginal improvement over its predecessor. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% slower, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S are 2.7% and 2.8% slower respectively. This places the RTX 4080 SUPER firmly at the top of the GPU hierarchy for this game.

The GPU's performance in Road 96 shows that it is the primary driver of frame rate changes across resolutions. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings (258 FPS vs 87 FPS) is a 171 FPS swing, which is entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering workload. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this title, as even at 4K Ultra, the game does not appear to be memory-limited based on the measured frame rates. The GPU's 80 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores are not heavily utilized in this adventure game, but they provide headroom for future titles or if the game receives updates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 328th out of 3,713 tested combos in Road 96, placing it in the top 8.8% of all configurations. This is an excellent ranking that reflects the balance between the CPU's strong multi-core performance and the GPU's high-end rendering capabilities. The rank is driven more by the GPU than the CPU, as the i5-14400F's 83rd percentile CPU ranking is lower than the GPU's 86th percentile ranking, but the combination works harmoniously.

Given the GPU's dominance in this title, the combo ranking is largely a function of the RTX 4080 SUPER's capabilities. The GPU's scores in Passmark G3D (34,245) and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (6,600) indicate that it is a top-tier part, and the CPU's ability to keep up at high frame rates ensures that the combo does not suffer from CPU-induced frame drops. The rank of 328 suggests that there are 327 combinations that perform better, which would include pairings with even more powerful CPUs or multiple GPU setups, but for a single-GPU configuration with a mainstream 10-core processor, this is a strong result.

The data indicates that the combo excels at 1440p, where it produces 133 FPS at High settings and 104 FPS at Ultra. These are excellent numbers for a modern adventure title, and they place this combination well ahead of the average system. The 4K performance, while not at the level of 1440p, is still respectable with 70 FPS at High settings, which is smooth for a narrative-driven game. The ranking of 328 out of 3,713 means that this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems tested, making it a reliable choice for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p and solid 4K experiences.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the High preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At this setting, the system delivers 133 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay in an adventure title, and the visual fidelity is significantly better than Medium or Low. The Ultra preset at 1440p is also viable at 104 FPS, but the 22% reduction in frame rate from High to Ultra may not justify the visual gains in a game like Road 96, where the art style is stylized.

For 4K gaming, the High preset is the recommended choice, producing 70 FPS. This is a playable frame rate for a story-driven game, and the drop to 55 FPS at Ultra is noticeable. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS, which is a smoother experience, but the visual downgrade from High is apparent. The data suggests that High at 4K is the optimal configuration, providing a balance between the GPU's capabilities and the game's visual demands.

At 1080p, the High preset delivers 208 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show. This makes the Ultra preset at 163 FPS a reasonable choice for users with 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitors who want maximum visual quality. The Medium preset at 258 FPS offers diminishing returns, and the Low preset at 353 FPS is unnecessary unless the user is targeting extreme frame rates for competitive play, which is not typical for this genre. The measured data shows no frame rate drops below 219 FPS at 1080p Medium, indicating exceptional stability at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 353 FPS on Low settings, 258 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 297 FPS, 208 FPS on High, and 163 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a consistent scaling pattern where each settings tier reduces performance by roughly 20-25%. The minimum frame rate at Medium (219 FPS) indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system rarely drops below a very high threshold.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are 224 FPS on Low, 164 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 140 FPS and a maximum of 189 FPS, 133 FPS on High, and 104 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a reduction of approximately 36% across all settings, which is consistent with the increased pixel count. The minimum frame rate at 1440p Medium (140 FPS) remains high, ensuring smooth gameplay throughout.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 119 FPS on Low, 87 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS, 70 FPS on High, and 55 FPS on Ultra. The 4K resolution imposes a significant load on the GPU, with performance dropping by 50% or more compared to 1440p. The minimum frame rate at 4K Medium (74 FPS) is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, but it remains above the 60 FPS threshold for acceptable gameplay. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 55 FPS, which is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, making it the least desirable option for this combination.